He was speaking in Salima on Wednesday at the inspection of lean period maize distribution exercise in the area of Traditional Authority Chisamba where he said all those earmarked to benefit will receive the maize as government has released the grain for the exercise.
"What we want as a department is to at least help these people not to start getting maize from their field early, we want to take them through this lean season and that we have managed and we are happy we have finished on time," said Kalemba.
According to the commissioner, each household in the program identified through the Malawi Venerability Assessment Committee report will receive two 50 kilograms bags of maize.
One of the beneficiaries in Salima MauKuseli Chakwawa has told Zodiak they have been sleeping on an empty stomach for lack of food after selling all his livestock to find money to buy maize in their 5 people household.
"We thank government for the support, we were in trouble, sleeping on an empty stomach and we were unable to go to our garden to cultivate but now that we have food we hope to resume work," Chakwawa said.
Meanwhile, the district commissioner for Salima Grace Chirwa Kanyimbiri has cleared the misconception over the Malawi Venerability Assessment Committee report on beneficiaries, saying they capture the real needy.
"People who are receiving are the ones eligible, we are professionals and the assessment is done professionally only that wherever there are free things everybody wants to benefit," Kanyimbiri said.
About 1.7 million people are being targeted in this lean season response following an MVAC report which indicated that these will be food insecure.